Kintbury Circular via Wallington's Road, Catmore Copse, Titcomb, Fox Hill, Inkpen Common, Adders Copse, Walbury Hill, Combe Gibbet, Lower Green, Balsdon Farm, High Trees & Kintbury Church yard.

Yesterday I took at train to Kintbury Station  from Reading, with a planned walk in mind that would take me to the highest hill in Berkshire  called Walbury Hill & then back to Kintbury via Combe Gibbet and footpaths back again. It's an area that I have never walked in before which reflected in the route I ended up taking. Nevertheless this area is full of all sorts of possibilities of walks. So although I did this route yesterday I will be going back again soon to do another route and reach the same hill again. The walk measured 11.31 miles.
This is a map of the area taken from my OS map number 158, Newbury & Hungerford

Below is a map of the route that I recorded on my phone on viewranger that I uploaded and saved, a very useful app for recording walks and also for finding out where you are in a strange area.

So I started the walk yesterday from Kintbury Railway station

I walked out of the station, turned left and crossed over two narrow bridges under which goes a canal & a river, and then walked on the right hand of the road until I came to a footpath that goes off to the right hand side up a small slope.

The path went along a narrow alley

It came out near some allotments and houses then just before a road was a turnstile.

Over the road from the turnstile was a gate to the local church with a footpath sign indicating the route through the churchyard.

So through the gate I went and followed the path through the graveyard passing the church on the way.

At then end of the path was another gate and the path carried on straight away to end up in a pub's yard with a signpost pointing the way

When I reached the road, now was my first decision of the route to go-I knew I was going near Titcombe

I was using the OS map to help me with this walk, so you can see the red blob at the top of the map which is Kintbury Railway Station, then the light brown road, that goes past a blue handled pub sign, and the green dotted line that on this map is a footpath that goes past the church and ends up beside another light brown road. So here is that road on the photograph below.

 On the map above there are two footpaths marked one going Kintbury to Titcombe Manor and that is the start of that path above called

I had decided earlier to go along Wallington's Road, so looking along the road past Titcombe Way I could see another road going off to the left and a road sign on a house wall as below

So off I went along the right hand side of a narrow lane that went went downhill, passing fields either side and soon came to a gate and a footpath sign. Wallington's Lane went off to the right and the footpath straight on, so that was the route I took.

So on the map above I have been walking along the yellow road, then now I am walking along a green stepped line with fields alongside passing something represented by a circle with a blue W sign as well. Then I came to a farm building with a footpath sign on a post with alternative routes as well, so now time for a decision-which is the right way?

I looked at the routes on the map and saw this 

I had intended going across the thin black line but instead thought the route ahead to where I wanted to go for some reason was the green steeped line going straight on and into some woodland. 

The path ahead was this one 

whereas the one to the right across the field & the black line was this one

So I took the path straight on and walked on the lovely straight grassy path towards some woodland fronted by a gate & footpath gate going along a track through the woods.

Then I followed the lovely path through the autumn coloured woodland known as Catmore Copse.

I could see from the map that the route to Titcomb Manor was going to mean I was going to have turn off this track to the left and soon there was the gate & sheep in the field.

So across the field I went on a well-used path, and came to another gate with the route quite clearly ahead on the gate and down a slope to another gate

So through the gates I went, then turned right and walked up another sheep field to another gate.

The next gate/stile had a signpost pointing the way I had come, but the way forward wasn't indicated, so I checked with my map and saw the route went straight forward towards a junction of a yellow road and a green stepped line.

This was the way forward along this road.

The lane crossed a a stream, then soon came to a cattle grid & a stile on the right hand side giving access to another lane.

Here there was a sign pointing across the lane to a gate where there was another footpath sign. the green stepped line on the map above.

I checked the map above & worked out that the path going through the gate above was the green stepped line going towards some buildings &  across a brown road towards Fox Hill.So along the path I walked which went close to a hedge on the right  hand side towards some buildings

Then between two gardens.

And onto a minor road, which was quite narrow to the right, but a footpath sign & gate showed the route towards Fox Hill.

So along this path I walked close to a fence and around the field following signs.

Then I came out near a driveway with signs pointing downhill & right-I wasn't sure which way to go, so much easier sitting here in this room looking at what I did & where I went wrong-never easy when you haven't been somewhere before.

The map above shows where I was at this point just near the letter 'H' in Fox Hill.

Down hill path

I decided to walk to the brown road again on the map there is the spot height of 156.

So I walked to the road, turned left & walked along the right hand side of the road until I came to a cross roads of footpaths & a by way on the map below.

So I took the footpath across the woodland, a green dotted line going across Inkpen Common which was woodland. Soon I came to a junction of paths again seen on the map above and went forward towards the thin yellow line.

Soon I came to a lane & a pub nearby with loads of cars around-I walked across the road and behind the building and parked cars on a restricted byway.

This byway came to a junction of paths or farm tracks

Now I looked at the map again to see where I was and the route ahead.

Yes there I was that sign above & the track ahead was the track going past Prosser's farm towards Great Farm & West Woodhay House. So off along the track I went passing Prosser's farm and up towards some other buildings.

Soon I came to a junction and turned right 

So now I consulted my map again to see the route ahead to the top of Walbury Hill. The yellow road I was on went past a green dotted line, a footpath to Rookery Copse, then went right at a spot height of 174. I then was going to climb up the hill through Adder's Copse then cross another little lane and up a path towards a blue coloured 'P' sign.

So this was the where the road turned right with footpath signs showing paths going left and straight on.

So I  looked up the field towards the hill

went forward, then right along the field edge

Then turned left and walked alongside a fence

At the top of the field the path went into some brambles & woodland, probably Adder's Copse, then came to a narrow lane which was close to a junction with another lane.

Across the road I walked, up a hill until I reached a stile with a grassy path going up a hill.

I followed the path up the hill, with a ditch or deep track on the left, also a road, soon I approached a stile and then walked up to a track. Looking back the way I had come I could see the track I had followed and the lovely view of the valley below

Here's the view from the Wayfarer's walk

The sign is pointing right & left, which is the Wayfarer's Way, but also straight over the stile and the field beyond it. I think that the hill in the direction of the signpost is Combe Hill.  Here is a close up of that hill.

I could see a TV mast to the left of the photograph, so looking at the map again I saw a symbol of that mast near a spot height figure of 287.  

So that made me realise that the hill I was looking at was called Combe Hill, with the village of Combe below it.

So now I checked the map again to see my route to Walbury Hill & beyond. 

First of all, this was the way from this signpost & the blue letter P on the map along the Wayfarer's Walk to Combe Gibbet along the top of Walbury Hill. There was a blue letter P again not far from Combe Gibbet and another blue sign indicating a lookout spot near the spot height of 263. 

So I set off along Wayfarer's Walk, following a chalk track, sometimes with pools of water on.

The path went over the top of Walbury Hill and then started to drop down towards that viewpoint.

Soon I reached a road and could see the path going up towards Combe Gibbet.

Looking back from this point I could see the viewpoint car park

The path up the hill is in good condition and soon I reached the summit & the gibbet as well.

The hill at this point is often used by hang gliders and paragliders. 

The Gibbet was erected in 1676 for the purpose of gibbeting the bodies of George Broomham and Dorothy Newman and has only ever been used for them. The gibbet was placed in such a prominent location as a warning, to deter others from committing crimes.

Broomham and Newman were having an affair and were hanged for murdering Broomham's wife Martha, and their son Robert after they discovered them together on the downs. Unfortunately for the lovers, the murder was witnessed by "Mad Thomas", who managed to convey what he had seen to the authorities.

A replica gibbet marks the site. The original was destroyed many years ago and subsequent replicas have been replaced several times.

The view from the top would have been better on a clear day but it wasn't bad at all.

So now I continued to walk along the top of the hill, following the Wayfarer's Walk, looking for a path that would take me down the hill again.

I was going to go off the hill at spot height 279, down a stepped path to where it says Pit(dis). I found myself walking along the Test Way and soon spotted a gate & sign with a gate a few metres away on the right hand side.

Opposite this gate was another track going the other way, and this I realised from the map was the Test Way

So I went through the gate & walked through the smaller gate into a field full of sheep with views below. There were a number of paths going across the top of the hill, but looking at the map above I knew that the path I wanted went down to the left hand side down a side slope and soon I found the way down.

The path went steeply down a slope towards some woodland below

looking back up again I saw the way I had come down the hill.

At the bottom was a sign pointing to the right

So I walked to the right and soon found that I joined a footpath that also went up to the path I had just come down

So I followed the path indicated by the post, leaving the hill behind & walked along a path through woods

Soon I emerged out of the woodland onto a grassy path next to a field with a track going off to the left & a signpost showing my way forward-so I checked the map again for the route ahead.

There was my path ahead, going past a disused chalk pit, and the track to the left was Bungum Lane. My way ahead eventually joined a yellow road & I saw I was going to walk to the spot height of 127.

Looking back to the hill where I had just been it looked quite clear & I could see the way I had come down it too.

So off I went again walking alongside the hedge and at the bottom turned left, went through a gate & ended up on a lane with the name sign on it called INKPEN.

So now I had to decide how I was going to get back to Kintbury, so looking at the the map I saw a lane called Weavers Lane, with a track going off to Northcroft Farm, then across fields to Balsdon Farm, a moated farmhouse, then a path to join up with Wallington Road again. This was the route I was looking at.

The route went along country lanes through Lower Green passing the road to Hungerford and then walking along Weavers lane.

Having walked past spot height 127, then bore right where the road went left towards Hungerford Road I walked along a stretch section of the road called Weavers Lane though I didn't see a sign at all.

The lane went over a stream and soon there was a track on the left to Northcroft Farm with a gate & a stile with steps surrounded by corrugated iron.

Along the tarmac path I walked and soon came to a footpath sign & another stile of the same design, and a path alongside a field which soon came to another gate & similar stile

I walked along the field edge next to the fence & soon came to another stile & a wooden footbridge and went up a small slope.

This path then took me along a well marked path flanked either side by  lovely beech hedges.

This lovely path came out onto a junction of paths, 

with paths to the left & right & straight on, so it took a little time to decide which was the way ahead until I saw a sign saying Balsdon Grange Farm.

So now I followed the path around this building & walked along a straight road looking for the way to join a footpath to Wallington Road.

Soon I saw the path going over a footbridge between the beech hedging.

Then I turned right & walked forward across fields towards some woodland

Soon I came to a gate & another footbridge that led into the woods called 

High Trees.

Through the woods I went and soon came to another gate that led into a field with a path going straight across it

I walked across this field looking for a sign in the middle of the field and saw St. Cassians College on the right.

Soon I came to this footpath sign, and saw a path going to the right & left and one straight on, so looking at the map again I went straight on.

Soon I came to another gate and a path that lead into another field with a footpath clearly straight across it.

This path brought me to Wallington's Road, and I walked through a gate into a field, 

The path ahead went down a slight slope and soon I saw the farm I had seen before and the gate as well.

Now I knew where I was again, so turned left & walked along the path I had been on before & soon joined Wallingtons Road and walked along it into Kintbury via the graveyard and little road to Kintbury Railway Station. There were a couple of pubs in the village so ideal stopping & waiting places if you have some time to wait for a train that goes only hourly.

So end of walk and very enjoyable, can't wait to come back again and do another.